Maine paper mill to lay off 120 workers for 1 week

RUMFORD, Maine (AP) — NewPage paper company is giving 120 maintenance workers at its western Maine mill one-week furloughs in a move to save money.

Spokesman Anthony Lyons says the workers will be off the job from June 17 to June 24.

The temporary layoffs come four months after NewPage cut 5 percent of its workforce nationwide, resulting in nearly 50 workers at the Rumford mill losing their jobs. The mill employs about 850 people.

Ron Hemingway, president of the Local 900 United Steelworkers, tells the Sun Journal (http://bit.ly/118L9VG ) that the layoffs involve only hourly workers who are union members, not salaried employees.

NewPage is based in Ohio and owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.